“Make ready thy soul that thou mayest be like the light which shineth forth from the loftiest heights on the coast, by means of which guidance may be given to the timid ships amid the darkness of fog …”

na’im samimi-moore/left (beijing, china): My fast this year is marked by the anticipation of a child, accentuating the urgency and necessity of mental, emotional, and spiritual reflection, fortification, and strength. With the blessings from on high, the companionship of family and friends, and a spot on this beautiful blue marble, I often feel too full of love and gratitude to hunger for much else. Except for nachos. I always want nachos.

missing so terribly my family—two of whom are going to be giving birth to beautiful baby boys almost exactly on my baby sister’s birthday. how we’re all so far apart, i don’t know … but when quiet, a quiet and slow and still that only the Fast can bring, my heart is open and i can feel them so close, and time and distance doesn’t feel like my curse—rather a blessing to have such a lovely, dynamic, creative, hilarious, devoted, unified family who will be with me always always.

Like this:

“I entreat Thee by Thy footsteps in this wilderness, and by the words “Here am I. Here am I” which Thy chosen Ones have uttered in this immensity, and by the breaths of Thy Revelation, and the gentle winds of the Dawn of Thy Manifestation, to ordain that I may gaze on Thy beauty and observe whatsoever is in Thy Book.”

alison bird/left (kampala, uganda): This year’s Fast has abounded with blessings. From the bounty of breaking the Fast almost every day with dear friends to the honor of visiting and praying at the Bahá’í House of Worship for the African continent to the many unexpected opportunities that have arisen to share this beloved Faith with colleagues and new friends in an almost seamless manner—I am filled with a sense of immense gratitude and love.

zach miloff/right (halifax, nova scotia, canada): Pursuing detachment, acceptance and surrender. And trusting that there is in fact good reason in the mysteries of the unknown. This is what I’m fasting for.

amy: on the days when it is my turn to post our photos, I receive leila’s email for the day early in the morning, just as i am about to begin my fast for that same day she has just completed. i leave that email sitting in my inbox, incredibly tempted to open it and peek at what leila’s eyes have seen, what she has captured. but i don’t. i fight that urge. and today, i was so glad that i exercised that control or i would have been deprived of that delightful feeling of surprise and giddiness at noticing that the coloring in all our pictures today have similar hues, and that we both chose to look up at the sky and clouds bathed in beautiful light at sunset. this project surprises me and brings me so much joy each day. thank you, thank you leila.

leila: i have rediscovered my flash, a little bit. this morning i thought, “Is this the first sign of autumn?”

in the evening my sister and i went to buy very essential riocotta cheese from the supermarket deli. on one of the windows of the building, you can just see a graffitied “smp”, which you see tagged everywhere around here. whenever i see it, it makes me think of my department at university: “Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy”. because i am susceptible to non-musical ear worms, i usually end up thinking the phrase “Society, Media, Philosophy” like a mantra for hours afterwards. because my brain loves me that way.